China has a new coal-fired power champ despite switch of focus to renewable energy

China’s energy industry has passed a new milestone, with the expansion of the Yangtze River Delta’s Beilun Power Station making it the largest thermal power station in the country by installed capacity.

The plant’s coal-fired Unit Nine has commenced operations after a 168-hour full-load trial, state-owned China Energy Investment Corporation announced on Monday.

That additional gigawatt of power has raised the total installed capacity of the station, located in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, to 7.34GW – surpassing the 6.72GW of the Tuoketuo Power Station in Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

While China has rapidly developed its wind and solar power capacity in recent years to meet its long-term targets in carbon emissions reduction, thermal power remains a critical stabilising force in the meantime.

Coal accounted for 53.2 per cent of China’s total energy consumption last year, a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from 2023, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Clean energy – including natural gas, hydro, nuclear, wind and solar power – accounted for 28.6 per cent of total consumption, an increase of 2.2 percentage points.